Traip Academy’s Castellano honored as Player of the Year

KITTERY, Maine — Make no mistake: Ben Castellano was glad to be named Campbell Conference Class C Player of the Year, an award given annually to the best football player in Western Maine Class C.

But more than that, he was proud of what it signified — for his position, as well as his team.

“I think it means a lot when a lineman can win this award,” said Castellano, a 6-foot, 260-pound senior who played right tackle and defensive tackle. “We’re not the best-known players, not the halfbacks or quarterbacks, but we do a lot of work every play.”

The Traip strongman was honored Sunday night with the John Taglienti Award during a banquet at the Italian Heritage Center in Portland that traditionally follows championship Saturday.

The Rangers (8-2) won a playoff game for the second straight year, but fell two wins short of reaching that Class C championship game, losing at top-seeded Winslow, 7-0, in the regional semifinals earlier this month.

“It’s still sad, the last game of my senior year,” said Castellano. “I’d give away my Player of the Year, my All-Conference, for one more game.”

Castellano is the top example of what these last few Traip teams have built themselves into under the guidance of assistant coach and weight room guru Nate Murphy.

As recently as 2006, the program was mired in a 51-game losing streak. But the last three seasons have seen the Rangers go 22-8 overall, with trips to the regional quarterfinals in 2010, the regional championship game in ’11 and the regional semifinals this year.

The engine driving the Rangers during this run has been its big offensive line, anchored by Castellano, a starter since his sophomore year. Seniors Joe Harty and Danny Eddy, and junior Nick Ovington are the other veterans.

“Ben is what we built our program around,” said Traip coach Ron Ross. “It’s great. He came in, he had size and he hit the weight room hard.

“It’s the identity we took on. I loved it because if we wanted a yard, two yards, we could run behind Ben and get it.”

In the last two years, feature back Cory Aldecoa has rushed for 1,627 and 1,338 yards behind that big line.

“Without (Ben), I don’t think we could have done what we did,” said Ross.

“Without them I’m not going anywhere,” said Aldecoa.

Castellano garnered some extra recognition in the summer before his junior year when he was named the top performer at an all-class lineman combine in Madison. He bench-pressed 225 pounds 15 times and squatted 315 pounds 30 times, winning both competitions.

He figures to playing football in college next season. He’s drawn interest from one Division I program — Sacred Heart — and several others in Division II and III.

Castellano has also been nominated for the Frank J. Graziano Award, which is presented to the top offensive and defensive linemen in Maine. Those awards will be announced Jan. 27.

He was named conference MVP on Sunday. That’s an award that’s been building since he first started being recognized by opponents as a sophomore.

“I’m not sure what team we were playing,” said Castellano. “I remember one of the linemen yelling out, ‘I have Ben.’ Knowing that the other team knew who I was and singled me out was pretty cool.”